phillip
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Someone To Crawl Back To
"Gardner's book is funny and intelligent and all too true. It's about people who have lost what they love, or thought they loved, and don't know how to get it back, or if they want it back." -- Deno Trakas, The State
Table of Contents
What the Arraignment Meant
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You Can't Tell Me You Love Me Enough
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Somebody Wants Somebody Dead
"Phillip Gardner's collection of stories Somebody Wants Somebody Dead pretty much corners the market when it comes to people living on the wrong side of the law-which is usually the right side of the law in these locales-and taking matters into their own hands. Throw in a garbage collecting voyeur, an obese drowning victim, a Bicycle Man, and a whole knot of ne'er-do-wells and these fantastic stories will make you think, "My life's bad, but it ain't this bad," which is to say that Gardner's hit the mark in the tragi-comedy venue." -- George Singleton, author of The Half-Mammals of Dixie
Table of Contents
Which Way You Going
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Twelve Tips for Writing an Unpublishable Story
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Available Light
"This new collection leaves no doubt that Phillip Gardner is in the first tier of the South's finest short story writers. His empathetic imagination, vivid language, and understanding of what makes a memorable story are of the first order. His voice is utterly his own. Available Light takes the reader beyond the realm of pain and pleasure and into the sublime."
-Ron Rash, author of Serena
To read the first story, click here.
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The Future Never Lasts
"The Future Never Lasts is more than a collection of beautifully written stories; it's a finger on the pulse of our individual and collective secrets, and Phillip Gardner has masterfully tabulated the cost of hiding them or trying to share them. Some, like the protagonists in "It's Usually This Dark By Now" and "A Crime of Opportunity," can't afford the price tag on those secrets. Others, like the history-haunted veteran in "This Time Comes From That Time" or the teenage narrator in "Mountain," swallow them whole. A few, like the husband and wife in "Augmented Finality" and the three couples in "Ten Things You Don't Know About Me," make uneasy peace with those secrets. Something, though, that's never a secret: open any page of The Future Never Lasts and you will find yourself in the presence of an immensely talented writer."
--Lynn Kostoff, author of Words to Die For and A Choice of Nightmares
Table of Contents
This Time Comes From That Time
Ten Things You Don't Know About Me
Film Adaptation
Link to Jeff Driggers' short film adaptation of "Happy Hour"
https://vimeo.com/palmettopictures
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where they come from where they hide
"Welcome to this fictional version of Darlington, South Carolina--a town full of characters who are rough, down-on-their-luck, and beautifully flawed. This fictional town provides a backdrop for the tragedies and comedies of life to unfold. If you linger in these stories for awhile and belly-up at the Paradise Lounge, the local watering hole, you'll meet Vapor, a man without a face, Coach, a washed-up former high school football coach who becomes a hero of sorts, and Pete Humps and his best friend, Russ, who are both hopelessly in love with the same fiery woman. These connected stories blur time and narrative to construct complicated characters that challenge stereotypical conceptions of the rural working-class. In the end, what emerges are the tales of the depth of human joy and suffering."